MICHEAL F. LAMB has been practicing in Montana for over thirty years. He is a native Montanan, born in Big Timber and raised in Red Lodge and Columbus. He worked on ranches and oil rigs until law school in 1977. He earned his undergraduate degree from Montana State University and his law degree from the University of Montana School of Law in 1980.
In 1980, after law school, he worked for a year as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judges William J. Jameson and James F. Battin in Billings. In 1981 he joined Church, Harris, Johnson & Williams in Great Falls, Montana where he had a broad based practice focused on litigation of all types (commercial, oil and gas, banking, insurance, personal injury, bad faith, medical malpractice, products liability, etc.) both from a defense and plaintiff’s perspective. Mike moved to Helena in 1993 to form the firm of Thueson & Lamb Law – a practice focused on personal injury law and the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA). In 2004 Mike and Jamie Carey formed Lamb and Carey Law in Helena, which continued the specialty practice of personal injury with an emphasis on FELA, medical malpractice, products liability, nursing home negligence, accidents (car, truck, motorcycle, boats), wrongful death, head injuries, and insurance bad faith matters. At Lamb Law Office Mike continues that focus on litigation matters.
Mike has made numerous contributions to professional journals. He authors a “War Stories” column in Trial Trends (a periodical publication of Montana Trial Lawyers Association) and he is a three time winner of the Justice Frank I. Haswell award for outstanding contribution to the Montana Bar Association periodical. He has also made numerous presentations on various subjects to the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, Montana Defense Trial Lawyers Association, Montana Bar Association, Montana Mediation Association and the Helena Education Foundation.
Mike holds a lifetime National Coaching License from the U.S. Soccer Association and has coached soccer for 20 years. He is an outdoorsman and long time hunting guide licensed by the Montana Board of Outfitters and Guides. Mike is married to Cheryl Ostrum Lamb, formerly of Absarokee, and they have two children. He enjoys coaching, guiding, fishing, hiking, rafting, skiing and spending time at Placid Lake.
Distinctions and Achievements
AV preeminent rating with Martindale-Hubbell – Peer ratings for the highest level of professional excellence.
American College of Trial Lawyers – Fellowship is by invitation only, and extended only to experienced trial lawyers who have demonstrated mastery of the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct and professionalism. Membership cannot exceed 1% of the total lawyer population of the state of Montana.
Best Lawyers in America – A peer-review publication that recognizes Mike for both Personal Injury and Products Liability areas of practice.
Mountain State Super Lawyers – “Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.”
Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Montana – by The American Trial Lawyers Association.
“Membership into the National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Trial Lawyers is by invitation and is extended only to those attorneys who exemplify superior qualifications, trial results, leadership, influence, reputation, stature, and profile in the trial attorney community, as viewed by our organization, other trial lawyers, members of the bench, and the public at large.”
Member of Multimillion Dollar Advocates – “The Top Trial Lawyers in America”
Membership is limited to attorneys who have won multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. Fewer than 1% of the U.S. lawyers are members.
EDUCATION
University of Montana School of Law, Missoula, Montana
- Juris Doctorate – 1980
- Honors: Graduated with High Honors
- Law Review: Case Notes Editor Montana Law Review, 1979-80.
- Moot Court
- Teaching Assistant, Legal Writing
Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana
- B.S. Social Justice – 1976
- Honors: Graduated With Honors.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
- Commissioner, Montana Supreme Court’s Commission on Practice, 2002-2007
- Montana Trial Lawyers State Delegate to the American Association of Justice
- Montana Justice Foundation Board of Directors 2012 – present, President 2017-2019
- President, Montana Trial Lawyers Association, 2005
- Member, Montana Trial Lawyers Association Board of Directors, 1996-2008
- Chairman, Montana State Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, 1996-2000
- Member, Montana State Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, 1992-present
- Member, Montana Supreme Court’s Appellate Mediation Committee
- Montana Trial Lawyer Association’s representative to Montana Supreme Court’s Intermediate Appellate Court Commission
- Guest lecturer, University of Montana, School of Law: Ethics, Trial Practice, Elder Law, Mediation
- Montana Law Review Advisory Board Member, Alexander Blewett III School of Law, University of Montana
- Mediator
- Law Day Presenter
- Board of Visitors, Alexander Blewett III School of Law, University of Montana
CIVIC/CHARITABLE
- Member, Montana Outfitter and Guides Association
- Co-founder Greater Helena Youth Soccer Association Endowment
- Co-founder Thueson & Lamb Scholarship Endowment
- Coach for YMCA basketball and soccer
- Coach for Helena Youth Soccer Association
- Coach for Helena High Women’s Soccer, state champions 2002, 2015, 2017
- President and board member for Helena Youth Soccer Association
- Member, City of Helena Open Space Bond Allocation Committee
